Various forms of minnow dippers designed for use in bait shops and for removing minnows from minnow buckets have been heretofore provided. However, most minnow dippers do not provide structure for gripping and maintaining a caught minnow stationary so that the minnow may be grasped or transferred from one tank to another without fear of the minnow jumping from the dipper. Still further, when a minnow dipper is utilized to remove a minnow from a minnow bucket, the minnow will often jump from the dipper as the fisherman reaches to grasp the minnow in order that it may be applied to a fishhook. Accordingly, a need exists for a minnow bucket whereby a minnow may be caught within a minnow receptacle full of water and maintained immobile either for transfer to another minnow receptacle or while being applied to a fishhook.
Examples of various forms of minnow dippers and similar devices including some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,480,924, 2,611,982, 3,059,369, 3,753,308 and 3,803,743.